Module Code-Pasay-PR2-Q1-W2-D3

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION – NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION

SCHOOLS DIVISION OF PASAY CITY

MODULE IN PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2

First Quarter/ Week 2/ Day 3

OBJECTIVE: Identify the variables and its type in a given research problem.

YOUR LESSON FOR TODAY!

In our previous discussion, we have discussed some types of variables and their uses.
Examples are the nominal and ordinal variables, interval and ratio variables, dependent
and independent variables. Some variables are used in qualitative and quantitative
researchers, and some can be used in mixed methods. Those variables are connected to
other types of variables that we are going to discuss today.
Let us find out these variables and how do they differ to the previous types.

WHAT I KNOW?
Directions: Determine the type of research of the given research titles and identify the main
variables.
Research Problem/Question Type of Research Main Variable/s
1. Different social networking sites is used in terms
of communication. You are asked to find out
which of these sites is mostly used.
2. Teacher Dennis observes that some of his students
has frequent absences which later affect their
grades. He observes then find out that students
with more absences receive poor grades.
3. A researcher wishes to examine the efficacy of
cooperative learning strategy integrated in the
classroom. He wanted to know if students
exposed to cooperative learning performs better
than individualized approach.
4. Sarah has come up with a hypothesis, as to what
the relationship between Drug X and anxiety are.
Sarah’s hypothesis is that Drug X causes a
decrease in anxiety. She will manipulate the dose
of the Drug X to see if it causes the degree of
anxiety.
5. Face to face learning and online learning are two
different situations in the phase of teaching –
learning process. A teacher wants to find out
which has a better result in the achievement of
students.

WHAT’S NEW!
Other variables which are used in research.
 Dummy variable
o A dummy variable (aka, an indicator variable) is a numeric variable that
represents categorical data, such as gender, race, political affiliation, etc.
- For example, suppose we are interested in political affiliation, a categorical
variable that might assume three values - Republican, Democrat, or Independent.
We could represent political affiliation with two dummy variables:
o X1 = 1, if Republican; X1 = 0, otherwise.
o Page 1 X
X2 = 1, if Democrat; of2 31
= 0, otherwise.

 Extraneous variable
o An extraneous variable is any other variable that could affect the
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dependent variable but is not explicitly included in the experiment.
o For example, if a participant that has performed a memory test was tired,
dyslexic or had poor eyesight, this could affect their performance and the results
of the experiment. The experimental design chosen can have an effect on
participant variables.
 Confounding variable
o Consider this example. A drug manufacturer tests a new cold medicine with 200
volunteer subjects - 100 men and 100 women. The men receive the drug, and the
women do not. At the end of the test period, the men report fewer colds.
o This experiment implements no controls at all! As a result, many variables are
confounded, and it is impossible to say whether the drug was effective. For
example, gender is confounded with drug use. Perhaps, men are less vulnerable
to the cold virus circulating during the experiment, and the new medicine had no
effect at all. Or perhaps the men experienced a placebo effect.
 Binary variable
o are variables which only take two values.
o For example, Male or Female, True or False and Yes or No.

 Intervening variable
o is a hypothetical variable used to explain causal links between other variables.
Intervening variables cannot be observed in an experiment (that is why they are
hypothetical). For example, there is an association between being poor and
having a shorter life span.
 Moderator variable
o also called a moderator variable or simply M, changes the strength or
direction of an effect between two variables x and y. In other words, it affects
the relationship between the independent variable or predictor variable and
a dependent variable or criterion variable.
o According to the American Psychological Association, stress has a bigger impact
on men than women. Sex is a qualitative variable that moderates the strength of
an effect between stress and health status.
 It is important to know the main variable because it is likely the key to understand
the social phenomenon or issue studied.

 For you to be able to identify the variables of a given research, determine the type of
research (Qualitative or Quantitative) then write the main variable. After writing the
main variables determine the specific variable

Examples1. Quasi - Experimental Research

Research Problem: Effectiveness of planned teaching on the knowledge of staff nurses working in
a psychiatric unit regarding Physical Restraints for psychiatric patient in selected hospital of
Vidharbha Region
Variables: knowledge and planned teaching
Since it is a quasi-experiment, the variables are the dependent and dependent variables.
DV: Planned Teaching
IV: Knowledge
Example 2 Descriptive Research
Research: A descriptive study on the prevalence of bedsores among unconscious patients
admitted in intensive care unit of Lion’s Hospital, Mehsana.
Variable: bedsores and unconscious patients.
In a descriptive research, the names of the variables are used.
Example 3. Correlational Research Page 2 of 31

Research Problem: There is a relationship between parental involvement and student’s

achievement.
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Variable: Parental Involvement, Student’s achievement

IV: Parental Involvement
DV: Student’s Achievement

WHAT IS IT?

PRACTICE EXERCISES 1
Identify the variable needed in each research problem.
1. People who attend church are more likely to oppose abortion than people who do not
attend regularly.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable Control Variable

2. Classroom management influences learning of pupils with disabilities.

Independent Variable Intervening Variable Dependent Variable Control Variable

3. Below are identified variables of this research: Job Stress with Supervisor’s Social support as a
Determinant of Work Intrusion on Family Conflict. Determine what type of variable are they.

Job Stress Features Supervisor’s Social Support Work Intrusion on Family Conflict
Role Ambiguity
Role Conflict
Role Overload

4. Jerome is a researcher who conducts a quasi – experimental research. He is interested on the

effectiveness of buddy system on the Grade – 10 students math performance. He conducted a pre
– test, implements the strategy then measure the performance through post – test. What are the
variables of this research?

PRACTICE EXERCISES 2
Adopted livewroksheets.com
Identify the dependent and dependent variable
Directions: From this pool of words, determine which variable represents the picture.

Binary variable Dummy variable Intervening variables

Extraneous variables Moderator variables Confounding Variables

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Study

IQ
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Ethnicity Education Unemployment Age

Types of Study Extent of Marital Activity Weight Gain

Counselling Population Problems Level

Guide Questions:
1. What hint or clue did you use in determining the types of
Self-realization Changes in
economic condition
variables?
2. How did you determine the variables?
3. What considerations were you able to put into?

Generalization
Types Uses
Binary variable Useful to construct binary variables for use in creating other variables.
Dummy variable They are dichotomous, they can only take two quantitative vales.
Intervening variables As they are not “real” variables, one major limitation is that they cannot be measured.
Types Uses
traneous variables which are not the independent variable but could affect the results of the experiment.
oderator variables Moderating variables can be qualitative (non-numerical values like race,
socioeconomic class or sex) or quantitative (numerical values like weight, reward
level or age).
nfounding when the experimental controls do not allow the experimenter to reasonably eliminate
riables plausible alternative explanations for an observed relationship between independent
and dependent variables.

References:
Internet resources
http://www.pt.armstrong.edu/wright/hlpr/text/3.1.variables.htm
https://stattrek.com/statistics/dictionary.aspx?definition=dummy-variable#:~:

EVALUATION
Identify the variables in each research problem.

1. Hoaxes and false information are circulating around different social networking sites. A group of
researchers then conduct a study to evaluate the authenticity of the source of the information before
sharing these. Page 4 of 31

2. A cognitive psychologist compares the ability of people to recall words that they were instructed
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to “read” with their ability level to recall words that they were instructed to “imagine”

3. A manager studies the correlation between new employees’ college grade point averages and their first –
year performance reports.

4. Social media exposure is rampant nowadays which exposes cyberbullying, violence, and abuse.
These may have an impact to the youth. A researcher conducts a study to determine if parental control
still works.

5. Agricultural is the main source of livelihood in the provinces. However, most of the workers are
not adopting new technologies.

WRITER: DENNIS M. MASIRAG PASAY CITY SOUTH

HIGH SCHOOL

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